


Belated Return

by charlieboi81



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, POV Alternating, POV Original Female Character, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:47:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22121308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlieboi81/pseuds/charlieboi81
Summary: Charlie and Steve have been together since just after the snap. They found comfort and love in each other’s arms. When Steve has a chance to reunite with Peggy, he doesn’t have the courage to tell her. Before he leaves, Charlie gives Steve an envelope to help him get through any rough times on his journey. Steve never opens the envelope, knowing it would break his resolve to stay in the past. When Peggy finds it, Steve learns the truth about his own past. But has he irrevocably altered his future?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _Italics = past/memories_

Steve landed on the teleportation pad Bruce had used to send him to the past, but rather than landing in an open field outside Tony and Pepper’s cabin, he finds himself in a large storage closet that housed nothing but the unit itself. Immediately, he knew something was wrong. Opening the closet door, he finds himself in a facility he doesn’t recognize. The hallways were empty and held no clue as to the nature of the facility. Did this building belong to the Avengers? Or had the technology landed in the hands of some sinister organization?

Deciding to investigate the matter himself, Steve snuck down the hallway hugging the wall to his right. As he approached the end of the hallway, he strained his hearing to see if he could pick up voices or footsteps. He took a right at the end of the hallway and came onto a large open area. 

Slowly approaching an open door, Steve hears a murmur of voices and tries to determine what they are talking about. He can make out that they are speaking in English. The voices are both female and male. One voice in particular stands out. Steve rounds the corner and sees Sam, sitting on a couch, speaking with Wanda and Clint. The three of them were dressed up in their Avengers gear and look like they had just come back from a mission. 

“Sam? Wanda? Clint?”

The three of them turned to Steve and stared at him in shock. 

Sam was the first to recover, running up to the blonde and embracing him. “Steve? Is that you? I can’t believe you’re back. Where ya been, man?”

Although Steve knew there was a chance he wouldn’t return when he was originally supposed to and he would have to explain his absence, Steve wasn’t ready to do it so soon. 

“That’s a long story,” Steve said. “After I returned the stones, I returned to the past for a few months.”

_With five of the six stones back in place, Steve made his way to Camp Lehigh to return the space stone before he could see Peggy again. Once the space stone was in place and Steve had found Peggy’s home, he waited for her to arrive. Hand in his pocket, he fingered the envelope Charlie had given it before he left._

_“It’s just a little something to give you strength and get you back home quickly,” Charlie said with a smile. She gave him a gentle kiss before stepping back and leaving him on the transporter, not knowing it would be the last time she’d see him._

_He hadn’t the courage to open the envelope, knowing it would weaken his resolve to stay in the past and enjoy a life with Peggy._

Did they know? Had Bucky told them? Bucky was the only person he’d confided in about his plan. Steve wasn’t ready to see the judgement in his teammates eyes when he told them he left Charlie to return to Peggy. He’d only spent six months in the past with Peggy. And yet, he held out hope that he could return to her and pick up where they left off. 

“Where’s Bucky,” he asked, in hopes of changing the topic. He’d hoped Bucky had integrated well with the rest of the team. 

“You just missed him. He left to go home to…,” Clint trailed off before changing topics. “We just got back from a mission in Southeast Asia. 

Steve should’ve held back, but he just couldn’t. He had to ask the question that was foremost in his mind. “Where’s Charlie? How is she?”

Sam and Wanda exchanged a look before Sam responded. “She moved out a couple of years ago. We offered her a place in Avengers Tower or the new compound,” Sam said, waving his hand around indicating they’d rebuilt. “But she decided to move in to her own place.” 

_Steve moved in to Peggy’s suburban home. They’d spent six months together before Peggy came across the envelope tucked away in a drawer of their shared home office. She opened the envelope and took out what appeared to be a photograph. The image made no sense. It was dark and blurry and there was no clearly defined image._

_She walked into the living room and found Steve sitting on the couch, sketching an image on his notebook. The notebook was perilously balanced on the arm of the sofa, but Steve was engrossed in the image and didn’t seemed worried. The image in the notebook was a woman standing in a field, her arms held before her and a smile on her lips._

_Steve looked up at Peggy as she approached him. She held out the photo in her hands. When Steve saw it, his face completely changed. He jumped up and pulled her into her arms._

_“Oh, Peggy,” he said. “I can’t believe it. You are pregnant?”_

_“Pregnant,” Peggy said, with shock in her tone. “No, I’m definitely not pregnant.”_

_Steve pulled back with a grimace on his face. “But, the ultrasound,” Steve said before realizing the technology probably wasn’t common and not nearly as advanced as the image in his hand. “Where did you get this?”_

_“I found the photo in an envelope inside the desk.”_

_Thoughts ran through Steve’s head at a million miles per hour. But only one thing came out of his mouth as he sat back down on the couch and dropped his face into his hands. “Oh no, no, no, no.”_

_“She’s pregnant, isn’t she,” Peggy said. “The woman in your drawings?”_

_“It looks like it,” he said._

_“Do you still love her?”_

_Steve hadn’t wanted to admit it for the past six months but in the deepest recesses of his heart, he knew the answer._

“Did she…? Has she…?” Steve desperately wanted to know the state of the baby, their baby, but there was so much more hanging in the air that needed to be addressed. “How long has it been since I left?”

Sam grimaced but responded honestly. “It’s been two years, man. We didn’t know what had happened so we moved the transporter to a secure location until the compound was rebuilt, then moved it back here. Bruce assured us that the transporter would only respond if it locked on to you.

“We decided not to disable the thing in case you ever needed to return from the past or another planet or something,” Sam explained. 

Two years. He’d missed the birth of his child and Charlie was left to raise him or her all alone. 

“Sam,” Steve sighed. “Be honest. “How’s Charlie? How’s the baby?”

“You know about the baby,” Wanda remarked. 

“I found out recently,” Steve admitted, clutching the ultrasound photo in his right hand. After Peggy had shown him the photo, they both quickly determined that it was best for Steve to return. 

_“What we have is nice, darling,” she said as she sat down next to him on the couch. “But we aren’t in love, not truly. I care for you and I know you are for me. But trying to build a life on a dream will never work.”_

“After you left, Charlie took it hard,” Sam stated. “Bucky had told us that you had planned to stay in the past and that you planned to leave us a message in some way if everything turned out alright. But when that message never came, we decided to give you a chance to come back if you needed it. 

“Charlie found a place not too far from the compound and Bucky moved in with her. He helped her through her pregnancy and has been helping her since the baby was born.”

“His name is James,” Wanda said. "She decided to name him after Bucky since he’d been by her side the whole time.”

“Are they in love,” Steve asked. He knew that he would never stand in the way if Charlie and Bucky had found love in each other. But he still hoped there was the slightest chance that Charlie would take him back. 

“It’s complicated,” Wanda admitted. “They are not in a relationship but they love each other.”

“As far as I know, they haven’t dated anyone else since they moved in together.”

“Can I see them,” Steve asked. “I want to see Charlie and Bucky. I want to see baby James.”

Sam nodded and left the room, pulling out his cell phone and making a call that would determine Steve’s future.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie gets a call she was never expecting.

Charlie watched Bucky play with James when she heard her ringing phone from the kitchen counter. At 15 months old, little James was already walking and his favorite words were “mama” and “no”. He referred Bucky to as “Bubby,” which couldn’t make Bucky happier. 

The more Bucky interacted with their child, the more she loved him. And James was his child in every way that mattered. Bucky and Charlie weren't in a relationship. Not in the traditional sense. He'd been by her side from the moment Steve left. He'd broken the news to her that Steve planned to return to Peggy and held her while she cried. It was in that moment, as she broke down and told him that she was pregnant, that he vowed she would not have to raise this child alone. 

He took his vow seriously. Charlie suspected he would’ve supported her after Steve left even if she hadn’t been pregnant. But knowing she had a child on the way brought out his protective tendencies. When she’d told him she wanted to find her own place, he insisted on moving out of Avenger’s Tower and joining her. 

_“You don’t have to, Buck. I can make it own my own,” Charlie said with a forced chuckle. “You just got your life back. You should enjoy it. You don’t need to be tied down with me.”_

_“I know you can make it on your own, Charlie. You’re the strongest woman I know.” He smiled at you and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “But I want to be there to help you. This is what I want to do with my life; help you raise this little one,” he said as he placed his hand over her barely showing belly._

_“You need to be here, Buck,” Charlie responded, glancing around at the specially designed facility. “I can’t. I need to get away from the memories of him.”_

_“I spoke with Sam and the rest of the team. We can work it out. You might have more technology and more secure internet than you were planning. But I can make it work as part of the team and still be there for you.”_

Bucky was a thoughtful roommate and friend. Steve was what brought the two of them together but their friendship developed and grew on its own. From movie nights on the couch to visits to Charlie’s doctor to cooking their favorite recipes together, they both found that they loved living together. 

It wasn't until Charlie's third trimester, when the hormones overtook her and her fingers and toys weren't enough, that their relationship ventured into the friends with benefits territory. He'd surprised her by reading books about pregnancy and being with her at all the doctors exams. He'd probably sensed it before she’d told him. Charlie was horny as hell. 

When he spotted Charlie in the kitchen, overheated and trying to cool herself with a bottle of water, he made his way from the couch to where she were standing. Ever the gentleman, he put the ball in her field. 

_"I know this isn't an easy time for you, Charlie," he said with a gentle and caring expression on his face. "I promised you I would be with you and provide anything you need. If you want me to help you, with anything, let me know. I'll always be here for you."_

He kissed her forehead and walked away without another word. That was the night their relationship changed; when Charlie walked into his bedroom, crawled into his bed, and he made her see stars. It wouldn't be the last time either. Throughout the remainder of the pregnancy, Bucky was there to provide relief for her frustration. 

The relationship continue in this way even after Charlie gave birth. One night, after a rough night trying to put a colicky James to sleep, Bucky and Charlie found themselves tuckered out in Charlie's bed. But the thought niggling at the back of her mind wouldn't let her sleep. 

_"I know our relationship has been awfully one sided, Buck," she started. "But I just wanted you to know you could come to me in your times of need," she continued with a chuckle. She looked into his eyes and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "Just not tonight. I'm exhausted."_

_Bucky laughed at her comment and pulled her into a deep embrace. "Let's get some rest, darlin'."_

Drawn back to the present day by the ringing phone, she quickly looked down at the screen and greeted the caller when she answered. 

“Hey Sammie,” Charlie answered. “Bucky just got home and he’s playing with James. He told me the mission went well.”

“Hey, baby mama,” Sam greeted. “Listen, I have something to tell you and it’s not going to be easy to hear.” Charlie knew Sam wasn’t one to mince words. If he had something important to tell her, he would tell her even if she didn’t like it or want to hear it. 

“Go ahead and rip the band-aid off, Sam. What’s wrong?”

Sam took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. “We never told you, but we kept the teleportation pad active in case Steve ever decided to return. Shortly after we arrived from the mission, after Bucky had left, Steve activated his Time-Space GPS and returned from the past.” Sam paused briefly before continuing. “He’s here at the compound and he wants to see you, Bucky, and little James.”

Charlie couldn’t respond. Her thoughts were jumbled. Words failed her. She’d always assumed Steve was dead. They never heard from him after he left. She was sure Sam and Bucky had done their research but, as far as Charlie knew, there was no record of Steve in the past. She’d assumed he’d taken up his life under a new name and forgotten them. 

“Charlie? You there sweetheart?”

“Yeah, Sam,” Charlie responded. “I’m here. I – I’ll have to think about it.”

“Of course. I know he’s anxious to see you but I think he’ll respect your wishes.”

“Does he know? Where I live?”

“No, sweetie. We haven’t told him where you’re staying.”

Relief flooded Charlie. She wasn’t ready to see him. Not yet.


End file.
